Technology companies like Apple,Google and Microsoft are fighting each other on many fronts in Hardware and Software .Google has been the dominant player in the Internet Search Market for a long time.The Company has executed almost perfectly in this Technology Segment with “Google” becoming a common verb in countries around the world in search for information.Other search engines have become distant “also rans” to Google despite numerous attempts .
However the massive marketshare enjoyed by Google is under some pressure from the Microsoft-Yahoo combine.It is difficult for Google to add marketshare given its high level plus it is facing Regulatory Pressure from Europe (privacy issues) and China ( Internet Freedom).Microsoft has upped its game by tying up with Yahoo to partner in Search and added new Zing to it Bing Search platform.This has led to a gain of 4 percentage points in the last year compared to the flat growth of Google.This has forced Google to make some changes in its layout recently leading one to believe the Google perceives some threat from Microsoft.
Note Google and Microsoft are competing against each other on multiple fronts like Operating System( Android vs Windows) ,Mobile Search,Smartphones (Android vs Windows Mobile),Tablets (soon to come) ,SAAS and Office (Google Apps vs Microsoft Office) Software.
In April about 12 percent of all Web searches were performed using Microsoft’s year-old search engine. While that doesn’t exactly make Bing a Google (GOOG) killer, it seems to be holding its own. Searches on Bing are up 4 percent since its launch a year ago, according to comScore (SCOR). Meanwhile, Google’s share is flat at 64 percent. “I do hear people saying ‘I Binged it,’ ” says Danny Sullivan, who runs the search-analysis Web site Search Engine Land.
Bing moved away from Google’s minimalist formula of a plain white page with a search box that produces a list of 10 blue links. Instead, Bing’s home page showcases a daily high-resolution photo. There’s the usual column of results in the middle, and a list of relevant categories on the left. If you Bing Lady Gaga, for example, these categories include “Lyrics” and “Albums.” This month, Google unveiled a redesigned search page with a similar layout.
Bing may never come close to passing Google as the top search engine, but it may not have to. A 2009 deal with Yahoo! (YHOO) makes Bing the search technology that Yahoo will use on its Web sites, though it won’t use the Bing name. If Yahoo and Microsoft hold their current shares, Bing will power nearly 30 percent of all searches. “At that size, advertisers can’t ignore them,” says Rosoff.